Moments later, Yixiong felt it was time for him to return home. It was so cold, Yixiong had to hurry inside. Like Shanquan, he wasn't young anymore. The night air that felt so cold piercing, was no longer a friend whom he could always miss. Those days were long gone for people their age.
"Why did Xiongge lock the door?" Yiren looked at Yixiong with a look of surprise when Yixiong was already in their living room.
"Oh, sorry!" Yixiong patted his forehead. He realized he had just locked the door to their living room. "I just locked the door out of reflex. I forgot that there are still people who have to leave this place soon."
"Not only that." Yiren sighed. "Qiuzhen hasn't come back either."
"Eh?" Yixiong was stunned. "He hasn't come back yet?"
Yiren shook his head. "I don't know why he's been out there so long. Maybe he's drunk the juice at the juice stall."
"Can drinking juice really make people drunk?" Jingkang replied to Yiren's words. The young man looked surprised to hear the words that came out of Yiren's mouth.
"It doesn't matter what he drinks." Yiren laughed. "Drinking anything can make Qiuzhen drunk!"
"Enough of our joking." Zhengyi looked at Yiren with a very serious look. "We'd better give Xiongge a chance to sit down now. You can see that Xiongge looks tired."
Yixiong laughed at Zhengyi's joke.
"I'm talking seriously, but Xiongge just laughs," said Zhengyi.
Ah! He is really serious this time!
"Sorry!" Yixiong then sat down on the couch.
"How did your conversation go?" Yiren opened his mouth again when Yixiong was sitting comfortably on the living room couch. "What's Mr. Xuande's comment?"
"He is willing to help us." Yixiong smiled.
"This is fantastic news." Zhengyi clapped his hands. He smiled so widely.
Yiren nodded excitedly. "I'm glad that Mr. Xuande will take us to the distributor of the bag. We can rest easy because we have one less problem."
"When are we going there" Zhengyi looked at Yixiong. "Tomorrow morning, right?"
Yixiong nodded. "Right! We're leaving at six in the morning."
"So now, can I go home, Uncle?" Caihong asked.
"Of course," Yixiong said. "Sorry if I was out too long!"
"I'm relieved to hear that too." Zhongli Zhiren joined in. "I'll say goodbye too. I still have some things to do."
"Eh? You're not going home soon to rest?" asked Zhengyi.
"Of course I'll go home. But first there are things I have to finish."
"Alright, now let's help Mr. Zhongli so he can get into this cardboard box. Then we will put this thing into Caihong's car," said Yiren.
"But before leaving this place, I have something to say. I don't know if this has anything to do with Mr. Beihai's kidnapping case or not, but I have to say it anyway."
Zhongli Zhiren blurted such a thing. Yixiong tried not to show any expression. But he found it so strange.
Just before leaving here, he said something important. This clearly doesn't make sense. Is there a specific purpose behind this kind of action?
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"Please, Mr. Zhongli," said Yixiong. "We'd better talk while sitting down."
They all then sat on the couch in the living room. After taking a breath, Zhongli Zhiren started to open his mouth.
"On the day of Mr. Beihai's kidnapping, the special security forces in this city have found two people hiding in a room in Dafeisi Tower."
"Special security forces?" Yiren frowned.
"I mean, the public security bureau," said Zhongli.
The atmosphere became quiet. Everyone was trying to digest the sentence Zhongli Zhiren just said.
What is this? What exactly is going on? An important thing like this, why didn't he say it when he came here with Zhengyi?
Yixiong turned to Zhengyi. His roommate looked confused. It turned out that Zhengyi knew nothing about it either.
"Who are they, Sir? Do they have anything to do with our friend's kidnapping case?" Yiren leaned forward. So inclined that it looked as though he was about to fall forward.
"They are two journalists who work for an investigative magazine whose headquarters are not in this city. They came here to investigate something. One of them said that the case they were investigating was a big one."
Big case? Are they investigating the same thing as Songfei is investigating? Is this a coincidence? Or do they also know Songfei?
"Since when have they been hiding in that place, Sir?" Yiren asked.
"They said they were there for two days," Zhongli said.
"That means they came to the building two days before Xinxiu's abduction," Zhengyi said.
Zhongli nodded vigorously.
Uh? That was when Dage and Miss Lüqiu went to that place! How could the two of them not meet the journalists? Where are those people hiding? Besides, it's a bit absurd that Hannrong didn't know there were people hiding in the building!
"How can they hide in that place, Sir?" Yixiong asked.
"They hid there after escaping from the gangs of criminals. So, before, the criminal group they were investigating had captured them. But they managed to escape."
"How did they get into the building?" Yiren asked.
"They said that someone was helping them. That person gave them the key to the fence and the key to the back door of the building."
"Is the person helping them one resident or tenant of the unit in the building?" Yixiong asked.
"They don't know who that person is. But they said that he also did not know the exact location of the building. So it looks like he's not a tenant in the unit there. But most likely, he was just an errand boy. We concluded that the person who ordered him and at the same time provided the keys was one tenant there."
Yixiong and Yiren looked at each other. Yixiong knew that Yiren also had the same suspicion. It was very likely that the person was Songfei. Yixiong looked at Zhengyi. Just like before, Zhengyi looked surprised and confused. It was clear Zhengyi knew nothing and didn't seem to have any guesses.
"Has the institution where you work questioned the two people directly?" This time, it was obvious that Caihong could not bear to remain silent and just listen to their conversation.
"I am not part of the city's special security, so my agency has not heard directly from the two people," said Zhongli Zhiren.
"So another agency found them," Yixiong said. "But don't they have an obligation to provide all the information they get to your agency?"
"It's not that simple." Zhongli Zhiren shook his head. "That's why I only found out about this twenty-four hours after they found those two people. According to the information we received, there were five of them in all. Three are from an investigative magazine and two are from a newspaper."
There are five people? How many people investigated that?
"The five people managed to escape. But they did it thanks to someone's help. That person, after giving them the keys, then immediately left them."
"What happened to the other three, Sir?" Yiren asked.
"They were then separated. Most likely, the two people from the newspaper were caught back by the criminals. Three people from this investigative magazine were then separated as well. The two men managed to get into the building, while another person, namely a woman, did not get into the building. It is possible that the criminals recaptured the woman as well."
So it was that incident that Miss Lüqiu witnessed! Everything is clear now. These cases are indeed related to each other!
"About those two journalists. Are they in good health?"
"One person is healthy, so we obtained all this information from that person. The other person is still unconscious. When he was found, the man was actually still conscious, but when he was taken to the hospital, his condition worsened."
"The police know about this, don't they?" Yixiong asked.
"They already know. Even the police have been combing the place where the criminals had held the journalists before they managed to escape."
"Where is it, Sir?" Yixiong asked.